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Nearly 1 million Ohioans have requested a vote-by-mail ballot for the primary election.(Photo: Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer)

COLUMBUS - Nearly 1 million Ohioans have requested a vote-by-mail ballot for the primary election – a staggering number compared to past absentee voting but far short of a "normal" election.

Two weeks before Ohio's "new" primary date of April 28, 1,254,377 Ohioans had requested an absentee ballot by mail or voted early in person. Of those, 712,048 voters had already cast their ballots.

To put that into context, nearly 451,000 Ohioans cast absentee ballots during the 2016 primary. But 3.3 million Ohioans voted in that election – most of them in person – during the competitive primaries.

During Ohio's 2012 primary, more than 335,500 Ohioans cast absentee ballots and the total turnout was nearly 2 million.

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In-person voting isn't an option for most Ohioans this primary because of concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus. The day before Ohio's March 17 primary, Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton closed the polls to prevent in-person voting.

[ All of The Enquirer's coverage of the new coronavirus is being provided for free to our readers. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to The Enquirer at cincinnati.com/subscribe ]

Even before lawmakers extended the primary, Ohioans were voting early in droves. Nearly 106,000 more Ohioans voted early through March 16 than did in 2016's early voting period, according to Ohio Secretary of State data.

Before his administration closed the polls, Gov. Mike DeWine was encouraging Ohioans to vote early to avoid the potential spread of disease. The GOP governor himself voted early in Greene County. Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown cast an early ballot for former Vice President Joe Biden.